John Najarian cuts Jerry Tasker's hair April 6, 2017, at Rice's Barber Shop in Naples Plaza. The local barber shop is closing this month after doing business for 54 years.

Tim Aten/Naples Daily News

Q: Can you tell us why the Goodwill store at 41 and 951 in Freedom Square closed?

— Ruth Hatala McCann, Naples

A: Some tenants — including a 54-year-old barber shop — in two Naples-area shopping centers are being replaced with Pet Supermarket stores.

Goodwill Industries closed its retail store and donation center in Freedom Square at Collier Boulevard and U.S. 41 East on April 27 after its lease was not renewed by Brixmor Property Group, the owner of the shopping center. The longtime store at 12683 U.S. 41 E. will be a new location for Pet Supermarket.

“Goodwill has been a staple in East Naples for 27 years,” Rick Evanchyk, CEO of Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, said in a news release April 20. “We are very disheartened that we have to leave. Goodwill would like to thank our loyal donors and shoppers who have helped support our mission from this location, as well as our dedicated staff in East Naples.”

The retail space formerly occupied by Goodwill Industries is being converted into a new Pet ...more

The retail space formerly occupied by Goodwill Industries is being converted into a new Pet Supermarket store at Freedom Square in East Naples.

Tim Aten/Naples Daily News

Brixmor, based in New York City, acquired local shopping centers Freedom Square, Naples Plaza and Park Shore Plaza in 2011. In addition to leasing space to Pet Supermarket in Freedom Square, Brixmor also signed the Florida-based pet store chain to a deal at Naples Plaza, where Golden Gate Parkway meets U.S. 41. Both new stores are scheduled to open in the final quarter of this year in the Publix-anchored centers, said Kristen Moore, a Brixmor spokeswoman.

“We are currently working with existing tenants on plans to close or relocate based upon their needs,” Moore said last month.

Two local longtime hair care businesses — Rice’s Barber Shop and Distinctive Hair Salon — have to vacate Naples Plaza by the end of the month. The last day for the barber shop will be June 28 or 29, manager John Najarian said.

John Najarian cuts Jerry Tasker's hair April 6, 2017, at Rice's Barber Shop in Naples Plaza. The local barber shop is closing at the end of June after doing business for 54 years.

Tim Aten/Naples Daily News

The barber shop opened in 1963 as one of the first businesses in a new local shopping center anchored by a Grants department store until the W.T. Grant Co. chain collapsed in the mid ’70s. The 810-square-foot barber shop has seen various owners and barbers come and go during its decades of operation. The old-fashioned shop’s red, white and blue interior matches the classic red-white-and-blue-striped barber pole just outside the shop’s picture windows along the shopping center’s arcade.

Najarian, who has cut hair at Rice’s for three years, will step behind another chair in early July at Moorings Plaza Barber Shop, just a short walk away on U.S. 41.

“I think it will be all right. It’s so close,” Najarian said. “A lot of my regular customers will know where it is.”

Rice’s other remaining barber, Buddy Hayes, is going to work at The Pavilion Barber Shop on Vanderbilt Beach Road just west of U.S. 41.

Although Najarian initially was surprised by the corporate change, he has come to grips with the inevitable move.

“I’m resigned to it. You can’t do anything about it,” he said. “I certainly would like to acknowledge our gratitude for all the years people have been good to us.”

A patron enters Distinctive Hair Salon on April 6, 2017, in Naples Plaza. The longtime local hair ...more

A patron enters Distinctive Hair Salon on April 6, 2017, in Naples Plaza. The longtime local hair salon is closing this week to make way for a redevelopment project.

Tim Aten/Naples Daily News

On Friday, Rosemary Muse plans to turn off the lights for the last time at the tiny hair salon she ran for 14 years tucked away in the same passageway.

“We’re just dissolving, and we’re moving on,” she said.

Some of Muse’s longtime clients, many of whom live in the nearby Moorings neighborhood, plan to follow her to the unit she is leasing at Salon Zenergy in Hibiscus Center, less than a mile north on U.S. 41, she said.

While leases had expired for the other businesses affected by the Naples Plaza transition, Muse still had a lease until October 2018, she said. Brixmor bought out the final 15 months of her contract. “They’ve taken care of me,” she said.

Marisol Suarez could not be reached for comment regarding the small shop for clothing alterations she operated for nearly eight years between the barber shop and hair salon. Bombay Bangles was in the vacant unit on the other side of the barber shop before the boutique relocated to North Naples a couple of years ago.

Pet Supermarket will combine the 2,000 square feet from these smaller units and the nearly 3,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Mulligan’s Sports Grille for more than six years until it closed last year. That space previously was home to Peppino’s Italian Restaurant for more than 15 years.

A longtime barber shop and hair salon are two of the local businesses closing this month as a ...more

A longtime barber shop and hair salon are two of the local businesses closing this month as a breezeway is filled in to make way for a new Pet Supermarket at Naples Plaza.

Tim Aten/Naples Daily News

In addition, plans call for the passageway that cuts through the center to be closed up and its space used to complete the nearly 6,000-square-foot pet store. The passageway that now is home to a few shops will eventually be a blank wall, said Stephen Herget, Brixmor’s construction project manager for its local centers.

Gulf Coast Construction has applied for a city permit for commercial work at 2041 Ninth St. N. to demolish the retail units for the new tenant buildout, city records show.

“Construction will start in early July. We’ve already starting prepping for it,” said Herget, predicting that Pet Supermarket probably will open there this fall.

Rebecca M. Smith, the director of real estate for Sunrise-based Pet Supermarket, said a lease has been signed for the Naples Plaza store but that the project is still contingent upon Brixmor getting plans and permits approved by the city. So an opening date for this location cannot be estimated yet, she said.

“Our projected date right now is in the red,” Smith said.

Demolition work began a week ago for the new store in Freedom Square, however.

“We are projecting to open Sept. 15,” Smith said.

The addition of two new stores this year would mean Pet Supermarket will double its number of stores in Collier County. The chain already has two stores in East Naples.

Have a local question? Email it with your name and city of residence to intheknow@naplesnews.com. Tim Aten’s "In the Know" is published every Monday and Wednesday. Like In the Know on Facebook at facebook.com/timaten.intheknow.